The Attitudes of Nurses Towards Inpatient Aggression And Selected Staff Characteristics: a Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: The attitude of nurses to the patient aggression may also reflect how they interpret its function or what meaning they attribute to aggressive patient behaviour. These attitudes are subsequently manifested in the way, in which nurses behave towards aggressive patients and manage aggression. Methods: The study aimed to identify the attitudes of nurses from various clinical areas to the inpatient aggression and to reveal differences in attitudes based on selected staff characteristics. The study has a quantitative cross-sectional design. Nurses’ attitudes towards the inpatient aggression were identified by means of the Attitude Towards Aggression Scale (ATAS©) distinguishing five types of attitudes represented by five domains named as offensive, destructive, intrusive, communicative, and protective domains. The prevalence of patient aggression towards nurses was determined using the Violence and Aggression of Patients Scale (VAPS). The sample consisted of 1220 nurses from nine selected faculty or university hospitals in the Slovak Republic. Results: The highest scores were identified in the ATAS© domains representing a negative perception of patient aggression in terms of destruction, offensive, or intrusion; on the other hand, nurses were open also to a positive perception of patient aggression. Conclusion: The results of our study point to the need for a deeper investigation into the issue of nurses’ attitudes towards aggressive patients. Nurses’ negative attitudes towards patient aggression can have an adverse effect on the quality of care provided to aggressive patients, thus it is crucial to identify these attitudes and implement lifelong-learning interventions to reduce them.